The cast of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's stood in a dark room, unsure of how they got there. In the center of the room stood table and on top that, a small television.
"Where are we?" Rua asked.
Suddenly, the television sparked to life and a teenaged boy stood inside the small picture box. He had spiky-black hair and extremely dark brown eyes. His skin was tan as he was Hispanic.
"Hello, everybody." The teen said. "And welcome to my first ever two-shot. Originally, it was a one-shot, but I added so many things that I had to make it longer. Who knows, it might even become a three-shot."
"Who are you?" Aki asked, skeptical.
"Why, I'm the author of this here story, Janus-Juan!" Lightning roared in the distance as he said this. "But you can call me JAM."
Everyone looked dumbfounded at his comment, but only Carly spoke up. "Um, why JAM?"
"Because those are my initials." He told them.
"Your initials spell out JAM?" Rua asked.
"You got a problem with that?" JAM suddenly screamed.
"No, I'm just wondering." Rua put his hands up in surrender.
"Well, if you must know, my family has the weird coincidence of having our initials spell out actual words." JAM explained. "My Dad's spell out JEM, my step-dad's JAR, my Mom's VCR and my sister's initials are ERR, or error."
"That's just plain creepy." Jack muttered.
"Anyway, let's start the show already." JAM said. "So, who wants to do it?"
"Do what?" Ruka asked.
"The disclaimer, of course." JAM said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Everyone's eyes widened at this and they all took a step back. That is, except for Yusei.
"Great, Yusei, you do it." JAM told him. Yusei just sighed in annoyance before turning to the audience.
"Janus-Juan doesn't own anything but the plot of this story." Yusei said.
"Perfect. Now, on with the story. But first, any KH fans around here?" JAM said. "If you are, then do I have a story for you? Check my stories and find 'Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts' not 'KH3: Echoes of Tempest'. Trust me, the first one is way better and I'm actually updating that one. Anyway, here you go."
Chapter 1: A Night of Tragedy
Night rose over Neo Domino City as the sun had gone to sleep for the night and the moon had awoken. The stars in the sky seemed to be glowing more than usual as Carly was walking towards the exit of a convenience store, grocery bags in her hands. Her glasses were sliding down the bridge of her nose and she had to use one of her hands to pull them back up. She had to be careful as she didn't want to suddenly trip and fall with her groceries. She already had enough of her tripping spells for the day.
"See you later, Sal!" She looked over her shoulder to see the kind old man waving goodbye. Doing what she could, Carly nodded her head before walking right through the door and into the night cold air.
She navigated her way through the streets to get home. She cursed the fact that her car was in the shop for repairs. As she walked, she heard the revving of a Duel Runner coming from behind her.
"Hey, Carly!" She heard someone yelling from behind her. Turning around, she saw a Sector Security grunt heading her way on his Duel Runner. The guy slowed down to a stop right next to Carly.
Before she could ask who he was, the mystery man maneuvered his hands to his helmet and took it off. Spiky orange hair bounced as it was freed from the confines of the helmet. Seeing the man's face, she saw that he had multiple yellow markers on his cheeks and one on his forehead. Usually a man with markers would scare her a bit as it meant they have been to the Facility, but she recognized this man.
"Hey Crow. What're you doing out here so late?" She asked him.
"I've got the graveyard shift tonight. I'm just doing some rounds around the city for any signs of trouble." He told her. Looking at the bags in her hands, he quickly added something. "Do you need a ride home?" He asked her.
"No, I'm fine." She told him.
"Are you sure? It's not safe for a lady like you to be out this late." He tried convincing her.
That blew up in his face when he saw her smile become a frown and her eyebrows scrunched up behind her glasses. He just pissed her off.
"What, you don't think I can take care of myself?" Ever since Jack disappeared without a trace, Carly has been trying to become more independent.
"I didn't mean it like that." He tried excusing himself.
"You don't think girls are as tough as guys, is that it? Well, what a sexist thing to say. Now if you'll excuse me." She said as she turned on her heel and walked away.
Crow sighed in defeat at the conversation they just had. Jack really did a number on her. He thought to himself as he went back to doing his job.
Looking down at her watch, she saw that it was already 8:27 and that her favorite was about to start soon. Speeding up, she walked as fast as she could in her predicament and took a chance. Turning at the corner of the street, she walked into a dark alley.
As she walked, she felt a shiver go down her spine. Turning back, she found no one around. This didn't cause her any comfort, however. Speeding up her pace, Carly suddenly heard footsteps coming from the shadows to her side. As she was only a couple of feet from the lively street in front of her, she heard something click behind her. She froze as she heard a masculine voice say something.
"Turn around, slowly." The man said. Doing as she was told, she saw that the guy was wearing a black ski mask and pitch-black clothing. In his right hand, he held a silver 9mm pistol. The gun was being pointed directly at her head.
Shuddering, Carly finally found her voice to speak. "Please, don't hurt me. I'll give you whatever you want, just don't shoot." Her voice wavered as she reached the end of her plea. To her, just voicing his intention frightened her more than she was.
"Put down the bags." He told her and she slowly followed his instruction.
"Now, give me your money." Her hands shook as she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her light brown wallet.
There was a design of a Kuriboh, a Winged Kuriboh and a Kuribon were playing around with one another. It showed just how childish Carly could be. Reaching into the confines of her wallet, she pulled out all that she had; a $20 bill.
The small amount of cash the girl had seemed to have angered the man as he grabbed ahold of the girl's wrist and squeezed tight.
"Please, that's all I have." She begged, voice straining as the man's grip was brutal. Her face showed clear signs of fear and pain.
"Well, then I'll guess you'll have to pay some other way." She could hear him smirk underneath his mask and his grin eyes darkened with a sinful purpose.
Carly gasped as she caught onto his implications. Using her hands, she struggled to get away from her assaulter until she felt the cold metal of his weapon on her cheek.
"You better not make a noise." He warned her before moving his free hand down her body to her waist.
Carly's eyes filled with moisture as she started crying in fear of what was to come. Before the man could do anything, however, she heard someone yell from behind the man.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" A familiar voice rang loudly in the alleyway.
Turning his head around, the robber saw an orange-haired Sector Security member. Seeing his predicament, the man moved himself so that he was holding Carly to his chest and the gun was placed right on her head.
The action went by so quickly that Carly was dumbfounded as to what just happened. Staring straight ahead, she caught the sight of Crow reaching into his holster to pull out his own regulation gun. Pointing it at the robber, Crow glared him down.
"Let the girl go and put the gun down." Crow told him.
"No, you put the gun down! That is unless you want me to shoot this pretty little lady's brains out." The robber threatened.
Seeing he had no alternative, Crow put his hands up in surrender before placing the gun down on the ground. He never let his gaze waver from the man, however.
"Kick it away." The man told him when Crow stood up. Crow did as he was told.
"You don't want to do this." Crow tried reasoning with him as he walked forward as slowly as he dared. "Do you really want someone's blood on your hands?"
The comment made the black-clad robber laugh. Suddenly, he pulled the gun away from Carly's head and then aimed it right at the spiky-haired police officer. Crow stopped moving.
"I have enough blood on my hands that a little more won't keep me awake at night." Before they knew it, the unknown man shot three bullets that hit Crow in multiple places. One hit him in his left shoulder, the other in his chest, and finally the last one hit him on his left side. The force of the impact caused Crow to fall down onto the ground.
Carly screamed into the night before she drove her elbow back, hitting hard on the guy's stomach. The man's grip loosed on Carly's waist and she got free of the man's grip. But, before she could run to Crow's side, the man pulled hard on Carly's waist, making her stumble. It caused her to fall down onto trash bags to the left of the man. She looked up to see the gun being aimed at her.
"You'll pay for that." He promised as his finger moved to the trigger.
Closing her eyes, Carly resigned to her fate. She heard a gunshot ring around her and waited for the pain to come. After a few seconds of no pain, she opened her eyes and was shocked at what she saw.
The black-clad man started sputtering as a bullet was lodged in his chest; right in between two of his ribs on his left side. Blood oozed from his mouth as he coughed for air. He crumpled to the ground in a heap of blood. Horrified, Carly turned to see what happened.
There, on the ground, Crow had managed to grab a hold of his gun and was the one who shot down the perp. Once he did, he dropped down on the ground on uninjured side, his breathing shallow.
"Crow!" She screamed.
Rain began to pour as Carly stood up in and quickly dashed over to Crow's body. Kneeling down before the spiky-haired cop, Carly rolled his body so that he was placed on his back. Blood pooled around Crow's body and his clothes became stained by it; his face was scrunched up in pain.
"Stay with me, Crow!" She yelled at him as she shook his shoulder as gently as she could. Once she did, grey eyes opened suddenly as Crow barely managed to keep himself from yelling out.
"Let me take a look." She told him as she started unbuttoning his green jacket. Getting really frustrated with them, she resorted to ripping the thing right through the buttons.
What she saw below caused her to let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Instead of tan skin underneath the regulation jacket, Crow had worn a black bullet proof vest. The thing took the brunt of the bullet shots, except for the one on his shoulder. Fingering one of the bullet holes, she heard Crow inhale sharply. The force of the attack must've broken a couple of his ribs.
"Sorry!" She apologized.
"Call…call…" He tried to tell her something.
"Huh? Oh!" She whipped out her phone from her pocket and dialed the emergency hotline. The shock of what had happened caused her to forget to call sooner.
"911, what's your emergency?" A female's voice rang from the other side of the conversation.
"Yes! This is Carly Nagisa and I have a man and a policeman who were shot. One's on the ground. The other managed to avoid most of the bullets because of his vest, but one went right through his shoulder and he might have a few broken ribs and—"She started sobbing as she kept on talking. Hearing Carly's despair, the woman interrupted her.
"Ok, Ms. Nagisa, you've got to calm down and listen. We've pinpointed your location and are sending an ambulance right now, but you've got to stop the bleeding on the guy's shoulder. Apply pressure to stop the flow." The woman instructed her.
Carly managed to move Crow's jacket sleeve enough to see the wound. She then ripped off a piece of her shirt and put it in between her palms before pushing down on Crow's shoulder. The police officer screamed as pressure was applied to the wound. She kept herself there for a couple of seconds before taking one of her hands off to grab ahold of the jacket. Holding it up to her mouth, Carly used her teeth to rip off the right sleeve before letting the rest fall to the cool concrete. She never stopped applying pressure as she did this.
Her shirt piece was now soaked through by Crow's blood and she pulled it off his shoulder. She then wrapped the sleeve around the bleeding shoulder. The sleeve was a lot thicker than the shirt and so didn't bleed through as fast.
"Come on, Crow. Just hang on a little longer." Carly pleaded. He had lost a lot of blood and it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his eyes opened.
"I'm fine. I just need a little shut-eye." He said as his eyes drooped.
"No! Keep your eyes opened." Tears were flowing down her face freely.
Suddenly, she heard the sirens of an ambulance getting closer. Her face broke into a smile as hope filled her body. Looking down, all her hope vanished as she saw Crow's eyes had closed and his chest was rising so slowly it almost didn't look like he was breathing at all.
Grabbing ahold of Crow's hand, Carly brought it up and shook it. Crow didn't move a muscle nor open his eyes. Sobs racked her body as she brought his right hand up to her cheek and closed her own eyes. She apologized over and over again while holding his calloused hand on her soft glistening cheek.
Things happened like a blur after that. She barely felt someone put their hand on her shoulder before she was hauled to her feet. She dropped his hand in the process. She vaguely remembered seeing Crow's body being placed on a gurney and put inside the ambulance and her mind was foggy about how she managed to enter along with him.
Riding in the back of the ambulance, she felt hollow. She felt guilty about what had passed tonight.
If I hadn't taken that shortcut, none of this would've happened. No he's—No! If he was dead, then they would've placed him inside a body bag and wouldn't be rushing to the hospital so quickly. Carly thought to herself as they rode through the crying skies.
"Bwahahaha!" JAM laughed evilly at his creation.
"What the heck was that? How could you end it in a cliffhanger?" Jack ranted. Deep down, he cared about his best friend and is worried for his health.
"Yeah. Does Crow manage to live?" Ruka asked, nervously.
"Hmm, interesting question. Is Carly right about him still being alive, or is he too far gone?" JAM said, cryptically.
"You're evil!" Aki told him.
"You bet I am." JAM smirked. "So, my dear readers, what did you think of my first ever two-shot/three-shot? Liked it? Hated it? Want to kill me for leaving you with a cliffhanger? Please, tell me your thoughts. I'll try to get the next part up soon."
"You better!" Carly screamed. "I'm an emotional wreck right now."
"Keep your pants on." JAM said. "Well, until next time."
Suddenly the screen went black.